Fortnite FTC USD 245 million refund order: What Was Paid, Who Was Covered, Status

Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, agreed to pay USD 245 million in refunds under an FTC order, and the FTC has paid about USD 198 million of it in two rounds. The order is In the Matter of Epic Games, Inc., FTC matter 1923203, finalized on March 14, 2023.

Claims closed on July 9, 2025, and the FTC says it expects to send additional payments in 2026. As of November 14, 2026 no amount or date for that round has been announced, and this page is a free reference, not the administrator and not a law firm.

What this case is about

The matter is an FTC administrative consent order with an FTC-run refund program, not a class action and not a court judgment on gambling. It sits on this site because it is the refund program Fortnite players search for. The FTC alleged; the order, which Epic agreed to, requires.

What the FTC alleged about Fortnite billing

The FTC alleged that a confusing button layout charged players while the game woke from sleep or on loading screens, that children could buy V-Bucks without a parent's consent until 2018, and that Epic locked the accounts of players who disputed charges. These are the regulator's allegations, not findings.

The case is not a loot box case in law, even though it is filed under loot box and video game gambling lawsuits because players link the two. The claims rest on Section 5 of the FTC Act.

The USD 520 million package: refunds versus the COPPA penalty

On December 19, 2022, Epic agreed to a USD 520 million package: USD 245 million in refunds and a USD 275 million COPPA civil penalty. The penalty is a separate order, paid to the Treasury, so it does not fund any refund.

The COPPA complaint was filed by the Department of Justice on the FTC's referral in a federal court in North Carolina; the docket number is not confirmed in the court record. For the national picture, see Gambling Lawsuits in United States.

Who is covered

You were eligible if you were charged for unwanted items, your child charged your card without your knowledge, or your account was locked after you disputed a charge. This was an FTC refund program, so there was no class and no class counsel.

The three eligibility groups and their periods

Charges for unwanted in-game currency ran from January 2017 to September 2022, and child purchases without the cardholder's consent ran up to November 2018. The FTC refund page also covers accounts locked after a charge dispute; our record does not state that period, so check the FTC page.

Whether a game purchase mechanic counts as gambling is a separate question, covered in the guide on are loot boxes gambling.

Who was not covered

Charges outside those groups and anyone who missed the July 9, 2025 deadline were not paid. Other purchases that did not fit the three groups were not part of the refund program.

Players who filed after the deadline are not part of the payout record, and the FTC no longer accepts claims.

Is there a payout?

Yes, a payout exists and most of it has been paid: the FTC order required USD 245 million in refunds, about USD 198 million has gone out in two rounds (an average of about USD 114 in December 2024 and about USD 130 in June 2025), claims closed on July 9, 2025, and the FTC says it expects to send additional payments in 2026 without announcing an amount or date. The USD 245 million is the program size, not what each claimant gets.

The payout formula and what remains unpaid

The estimate below uses only figures the FTC has published. Averages and the unpaid remainder are derived from them.

Refund program size (order of 2023-03-14) = USD 245,000,000
Eligible claimants: unwanted charges (2017-01 to 2022-09); child purchases without cardholder consent (to 2018-11); accounts locked after a charge dispute
Round one (2024-12-09) = 629,344 payments, more than USD 72M, average about USD 114
Round two (2025-06) = 969,173 payments, more than USD 126M, claims filed by 2025-02-14, average about USD 130
Paid to date = about USD 198M (72M + 126M)
Unpaid before administration (derived) = about USD 47M
Per-claimant share of the unpaid amount = remainder / late valid claims; neither the administration cost nor the number of late valid claims is published

The remainder per claimant cannot be computed because the number of late valid claims is unpublished. The USD 47 million is derived, assumes the full USD 245 million is refund money, and is before administration costs.

The guide to class action payout per person explains why a program size and an average check are different numbers.

Round one and round two, in figures

Round one on December 9, 2024 sent 629,344 payments totaling more than USD 72 million; round two in June 2025 sent 969,173 payments totaling more than USD 126 million. Round two covered claims filed by February 14, 2025.

Dividing each total by its payment count gives the averages. They are round averages, not amounts any single claimant was owed.

Why no per-person amount exists

The FTC has not published a per-person formula for the remaining payments. It has also not published the number of late valid claims or the administration cost, which are the two inputs the remainder depends on.

So USD 114 and USD 130 are averages of past rounds, and neither is "the payout". Individual amounts differed, and the 2026 round has no announced amount.

Deadlines and how refunds were claimed (the window is closed)

The claim deadline was July 9, 2025, and the FTC is no longer accepting claims. Filing was free, and this site never hosts a claim form; the only official page is on ftc.gov.

The claim deadline of July 9, 2025

Claims opened in September 2023 and closed on July 9, 2025. Round two covered claims filed by February 14, 2025.

Further payments are expected after the FTC validates claims filed up to the deadline. For the general steps in any refund program, read how to file a claim in a gambling settlement.

Checking a refund notice: what the FTC says it never does

The FTC states it will never threaten you, say you must transfer money to get a refund, or promise you a prize. The refund administrator for this program is Rust Consulting, Inc., acting for the FTC.

A message that asks for a fee or a transfer is not from the FTC. The guide on how to spot fake settlement and claim sites lists the checks to run.

Timeline

The order moved from a December 2022 announcement to two payment rounds by June 2025. The dates below are shown in ISO form.

The guide on how long gambling lawsuits and settlements take compares this schedule with other cases.

What the commission has decided so far

One order exists: the Commission's final order of March 14, 2023, voted 4-0, which requires Epic to pay USD 245 million in refunds and to stop the practices alleged. The prohibitions are as the FTC press release states them.

The order decides nothing about gambling law. It is a consent order, which Epic agreed to, so our record holds no ruling on the merits.

As of November 14, 2026 the status is claims-closed. The FTC page, last checked that day, still says additional payments are expected in 2026, and the most recent dated round is June 2025.

Documents and sources

Every figure comes from FTC pages and press releases, listed here with their dates. No Reddit or blog figure is used.

• FTC Fortnite refunds page, checked November 14, 2026
• FTC press release finalizing the order, March 2023
• FTC press release announcing the package, December 2022
• FTC press release on round one, December 2024
• FTC matter 1923203, no separate docket link
• FTC refund programs page, for the "never" statement

Related cases

Three cases explain how this order sits beside Epic's other settlements.

Other Epic Games and Fortnite cases

Epic Games is a party to other cases in our record. The page on Epic Games lawsuits lists them all, and three are closest to this order:

• Epic Games loot llama settlement (Fortnite and Rocket League): a North Carolina state class settlement.
• Epic Games Quebec Fortnite case: a Canadian case over Fortnite.
• Epic Games Canada loot box settlement: CAD 2,750,000, paid as of September 29, 2023.

Other video game and gambling settlements

Another FTC loot box order and the open gambling settlements are listed here.

• Genshin Impact FTC loot box order: filed January 17, 2025 in the Central District of California.
• Pulsz six-state settlement: claims open to November 30, 2026.

The full list sits in the tracker of open gambling class action settlements by deadline.

Questions people ask

Is the Fortnite FTC refund real?

Yes; the FTC finalized the order on March 14, 2023 and has paid about USD 198 million. Totals by year are in the tracker of gambling settlements by year and amount.

How much was the Fortnite refund per person?

No fixed amount exists; the FTC reported averages of about USD 114 and about USD 130 in the two rounds. Use the gambling settlement payout per person calculator to see how fund size changes an estimate in other cases.

Is there a third round of Fortnite refunds?

The FTC says it expects additional payments in 2026 after validating all claims; no amount or date has been announced. Check the FTC refund page for any update.

Can I still file a Fortnite refund claim?

No; claims closed on July 9, 2025. The gambling settlement eligibility checker helps with other programs.

Is the Fortnite loot llama settlement the same thing?

No; the Epic Games loot llama settlement (Fortnite and Rocket League) is a separate North Carolina state class settlement that gave 1,000 V-Bucks or 1,000 Credits.

Are there other Epic Games lawsuits?

Yes, several; the full list is on the Epic Games lawsuits page.